Sarah Allen | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/profile/sarahallen
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017Fri, 18 Aug 2017 05:40:59 GMT2017-08-18T05:40:59Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Laptops aren't welcome in coffee shops | Sarah Allenhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/11/coffee-shops-laptops-free-wi-fi
Laptop loiterers taking advantage of free Wi-Fi have become a costly nuisance, and coffeehouse owners are pulling the plug<p>In early 2007, in San Francisco's Mission District, the concept of cowboys and the Wild West returned. These modern buckaroos wrangled laptops, not cattle, and they travelled not between ranches, but coffeehouses that offered free Wi-Fi. Ever independent, the tech cowboys of a few years ago lived for the freedom of not having a regular office and the ability to launch a start-up or finish freelance assignments in a comfy café, lingering for entire days until the job was done.</p><p>"That way of working was considered the future," recalls Martin Evans, a contract web designer who has lived in San Francisco since 2004. "I was part of a herd of people who used cafés with free Wi-Fi as a daily work space. We'd buy coffee and launch internet companies."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/11/coffee-shops-laptops-free-wi-fi">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkUS newsWorld newsInternetUS economyTue, 11 Aug 2009 18:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/aug/11/coffee-shops-laptops-free-wi-fiSarah Allen2009-08-11T18:00:00ZSarah Allen: The specialty coffee business makes the hard sellhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/starbucks.usa
The specialty coffee industry is struggling against the idea that the customer is always right - and the results aren't pretty<p>Nicholas Cho has become an infamous figure in the world of gourmet coffee. In February, the owner of Murky Coffee had <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/03/21/ST2008032100366.html">his Washington DC location shut down</a> for failure to pay more than $427,000 in taxes. Then, in the wake of the scandal, members of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), which promotes ethical small business practices, asked him to step down from the organisation's <a href="http://www.scaa.org/press_article.asp?article_id=136144197">board of directors</a>. But Cho has stayed firmly put.</p><p>Now he's found himself in the midst of another controversy, after a <a href="http://www.andiamnotlying.com/2008/murky-coffee-arlington-hold-that-espresso-between-your-knees/">customer blogged</a> about snooty barista service at his Arlington, Virginia café last week. Given this rocky past year, it's no wonder that Cho has changed his Facebook status to: "Nicholas Cho promises never to be controversial again. Never-ever." Ha.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/starbucks.usa">Continue reading...</a>StarbucksLife and styleUS newsBusinessWed, 23 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/starbucks.usaSarah Allen2008-07-23T14:00:00ZCoffee clashhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/coffeeclash
Every Starbucks in the US is closing today to train baristas in the art of espresso - but what they will learn in their three-hour session is just a start<p>Someone's life is going to change today, I just know it. That someone is a Starbucks barista, and I'd venture he or she has no idea what's about to happen. This person, who is most likely an intelligent twentysomething who gravitated toward liberal arts in high school, probably took the job at Starbucks to make some extra cash to go to concerts and help with the rent.</p><p>This morning, he or she probably rolled his or her eyes at the thought of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/26/starbucks">three-hour "art of espresso" training</a> mandated by Starbucks CEO and president Howard Schultz, which is taking place this afternoon at each of Starbucks' 7,100 company-owned US shops. In an effort to "transform the customer experience", Schultz started his reclaimed position as Starbucks' CEO six weeks ago by vowing to <a href="http://commentisfree.theguardian.com/conor_clarke/2008/01/trouble_brewing.html">resurrect</a> the once-specialty nature of a company now known best for Frappuccinos and drive-thru windows. And he thinks it can be done in three hours.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/coffeeclash">Continue reading...</a>US newsBusinessTue, 26 Feb 2008 17:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/coffeeclashSarah Allen2008-02-26T17:00:00Z